Final Fantasy Tier Thread: Battle/Boss/Final Boss Theme Edition

[Mertron]

alright fellas it’s time to do this yet again since this has been done before but we got a whole new entry in the series last year so let’s go

some notes:

1. I did not include the online games. Never played 14, too many different themes to figure out for 11

2. it has to be the MAIN battle theme, not a random offshoot. sorry to “man with the machine gun” lovers, but yes obviously that would be at least S tier if it counted

3. it also must be the MAIN boss theme, as in most general bosses have that theme attached to it. it makes some games tricky (ff15), and also omits some good offshoots like the exdeath theme (not final boss version) and battle with the four fiends, which would also would obviously be S-tier.

4. I can do whatever I want for the final boss theme to game the SS tier ranking because the actual final boss of that game sucks, also necron sucks

HAVE AT YOU

Main Battle Themes:

SS-Tier: FF15
S-Tier: FF7, FF13
A-Tier: FF3, FF6,
B-Tier: FF1, FF4, FF16
C-Tier: FF5, FF8, FF9
D-Tier: FF10, FF2
F-Tier: FF12 (incomplete grade)

Notes: the FF15 main battle theme absolutely slaps and wins hands down. 7 might be slightly nostalgia but still very strong, 13 haters can rejoice when they see its further positions. I am giving ff3 the win in the NES rankings

FF2, like it does in most rankings, is not going to fare well in any category

FF12 doesn’t really have a battle theme so it gets the “F” though it’s more of an incomplete (this will be a theme for 1 and 2 coming up)

Boss Themes:

S-Tier: FF3
A-Tier: FF4, FF9, FF5, FF7
B-Tier: FF10,
C-Tier: FF6, FF8, FF12
D-Tier: FF16, FF13, FF15
F-Tier: FF1, FF2 (incomplete)

FF3 gets the nod here, but not strong enough for an SS designation. SNES/Playstation themes rank heavy here. There are too many ff15 themes. FF6 being the midpoint here feels right as I will slightly put ff10 over it.

Final Boss Themes:

SS-Tier: FF10 (Braska’s Final Aeon)
S-Tier: FF7, FF6, FF8
A-Tier: FF9 (Trance Kuja), FF3
B-Tier: FF4
C-Tier: FF5, FF15, FF16
D-Tier: FF2, FF13, FF12
F-Tier: FF1 (incomplete)

SUCK IT NERDS YU YEVON IS NO LONGER THE FINAL BOSS, NEITHER IS NECRON

I think the issue that comes up with newer games like 15 and 16 is they have a pretty extensive soundtrack and it takes away from the major/final battle slightly. Anyway the ps1 games take over here

[Krandor]

Battle Theme - 13 and both from 8 (main party and Laguna theme)

Final Boss theme - 6

I only worry about top tiers ain't got no time for the rest of the list

[Mertron]

i do not care for the main battle theme from 8 but agree laguna theme would be S tier

[Salodin]

Can we add another caveat? It has to be original version, not rearranged or remixed. This is especially relevant for things like MIDI One Winged Angel.

With that caveat, I think Dancing Mad is up there. I'd have to ruminate on it some more

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[Melena]

I may or may not have recommended this for a tier list with Distant Worlds coming to SF in less than a month.

[Mertron]

my 7 rankings are based on the original game (all games are based on original). the midi version of OWA still clears. hell I have ff3 ranked high and those are based on originals too! go listen to the original ff3 boss theme i dare you!



that being said, the remake/rebirth versions of it rule

[Anoat]

Remake and Rebirth versions of OWA kinda cheat because they stand on the bones of the Advent Children OWA and just make it slap even more

I know you got XI and XIV left out but I’ll take any XIV final boss theme and put it up there with anything from the main series, ditto with Ark Angels from XI

[Mertron]

if i was going to include from xi:

normal battle would be whatever plays when you are fighting solo in base regions
boss battle would be whatever plays when you fight as a party in RoZ regions (far/nid fights), but should probably either be BCNM music or the RoZ mission BCNM music (edit: this is the same as ark angels I think?)
final boss would be shadow lord/dyna-xarc music i guess

[Anoat]

I will say I still get some PTSD like feelings from Promathia boss battle theme and there is no other FF theme that evokes that feeling of dread in me. So many Promyvions and Mammetts *shudder*

[Mertron]

only CoP battle that gave my group problems (more than 2/3 tries) was ultima/omega from what i remember

but then we swapped out our pld for a nin on like the 7th or 8th attempt and won

anyway CoP battle theme is eh

[Zealot]

I know we're not doing XIV in here but if you didn't choke up the first time you heard Close in the Distance start after finishing all the cutscenes to get to that point, you're a liar, because yes you did.

Shiva's theme the best though.

[Zealot]

By Final Boss theme in XV, do you mean Omnis Lacrima or Magna Insomnia?

[Mertron]

i considered all 3 parts together; they kinda stream together nicely enough like dancing mad imo. i prefer the last part of it the most

it really doesn’t stand out to me though

edit: it looks like I’m referring to magna insomnia, is that two parts and omnis is 1? doesn’t omnis also play in some other fights?

[Zealot]

I thought it was the Ifrit fight theme, I could be wrong. I only played that game once. I enjoyed it just enough to get through and then not play again.

[Mertron]

yeah that’s the ifrit theme but i feel like it plays a couple times earlier? it’s been a while since I played 15

i should play episode ardyn again

[Lokus]

Since you're not doing offshoots, Battle on Big Bridge is out. Gonna have to give a nod to The Endsinger boss music from FFXIV cause that was some hot fire. FFIX's Battle 2 and FFXIII's Saber's Edge are toppest of tiers too. Special mention to FFXII's Boss Battle cause I had to listen to that shit for 6 hrs when I made my first attempt at Yiazmat.

[Starby]

I know it doesn't count but rules are made to be broken this is my vote for top boss theme
Ffxi promathia battle: Realm of Emptiness https://youtu.be/RxFfzbCDIJI?si=_2oaFleLHuzlmreE

[Zealot]

This got me going back and listening to all the original FF music, it's incredible how much Uematsu's MIDI themes from the very first game still hold up.

[Gredival]

Crisis Core (The Price of Freedom) counts as the final boss theme imo since it's the final battle (fite me) which puts it into S tier.

Can we add another caveat? It has to be original version, not rearranged or remixed. This is especially relevant for things like MIDI One Winged Angel.

With that caveat, I think Dancing Mad is up there. I'd have to ruminate on it some more

Remake and Rebirth versions of OWA kinda cheat because they stand on the bones of the Advent Children OWA and just make it slap even more

I think if we make this caveat we should just have a category for best mix/remix (measured by contrast to the original)

Which has a clear solo SSS tier winner... Those Who Squat (FF7 Remake)

[Notable mention to the AC versions, both the motorcycle version and the piano version from Tifa's fight vs. Loz]

[Salodin]

Crisis Core (The Price of Freedom) counts as the final boss theme imo since it's the final battle (fite me) which puts it into S tier.





I think if we make this caveat we should just have a category for best mix/remix (measured by contrast to the original)

Which has a clear solo SSS tier winner... Those Who Squat (FF7 Remake)

[Notable mention to the AC versions, both the motorcycle version and the piano version from Tifa's fight vs. Loz]

Winner is advent children owa obviously

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